Asked whether Gaza’s residents would have the “right to return” to their homes, Trump said: “No, they wouldn’t because they are going to have much better housing.”
Trump told reporters before the meeting with the king that he expected to be able to persuade Abdullah to take in Palestinians.
King Abdullah, Trump, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio (right) meet in the Oval Office. Credit: Bloomberg
“I do think he’ll take, and I think other countries will take also,” Trump said. “They have good hearts.”
He has indicated that he could use the $1.5 billion in annual assistance Jordan receives from the United States as leverage to force Jordanian leaders to acquiesce.
Abdullah’s ability to respond to the president’s demands was further hampered by Trump’s appearing to give a green light to Netanyahu’s potential restart of the war in Gaza after three weeks of ceasefire. Hamas has been releasing Israeli hostages but declared a halt on Monday.
Trump told reporters the day before the meeting that if Hamas doesn’t release all the hostages by Saturday “at 12 o’clock” – it wasn’t clear whether he meant noon or midnight – he would suggest that Netanyahu cancel the ceasefire.
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“I would say cancel it, and all bets are off and let hell break out,” he said. “If they’re not returned – all of them, not in drips and drabs, not two and one and three and four and two.”
Jordanian leaders, meanwhile, have been involved for more than a year in a painstaking effort to restore peace to Gaza and to push for an eventual Palestinian state – a step that would be imperilled if Palestinians were permanently moved out of Gaza.
If Trump cut off funding to Jordan, the kingdom would have to turn elsewhere. Saudi Arabia is one potential backer, although the two countries have a tense history, and Abdullah is unlikely to want to be too dependent on the wealthy Gulf Arab nation. Some Jordanians have also suggested that Russia or China could step in, a development that would be a setback for US efforts to curtail their global influence.
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Some Middle East experts have struggled to understand Trump’s broader strategy in his vow to take over Gaza if there is one.
“In one fell swoop, he’s tethered the United States to a proposal which at best is voluntary-slash-forced transfer and, worst, ethnic cleansing,” Miller said.
“He’s undermined relations with the Egyptians and the Jordanians. He’s validated the fantasies of the Israeli right wing, and he sent a signal to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and [Chinese President] Xi [Jinping] that, you know, ‘Hey, I can announce the fact that I’m taking over territory X without any justification now’.”
